January 2017 Newsletter

Group Magic: Sedona, AZ

A Guest Article by Dr. Joel Ying, MD

“Certain things catch your eye, But pursue only those that capture your heart.” –Native American Saying

I just completed a transformational workshop, co-teaching with my friend Suzanne Scurlock-Durana in her annual New Year’s Retreat in Sedona, Arizona.

In the “Release and Renewal” workshop, we honor the wisdom of the Native American Medicine Wheel and apply it to our New Year’s Intention. “Medicine” is not just a chemical that heals the body, but anything that heals the body, mind, or spirit.

“Finding your medicine” often refers to finding your purpose, your passion, your gifts that you will give your tribe or even the world.

The Medicine Wheel represents a body of spiritual teachings. This workshop scratches the surface of that wisdom.

Over the past decade, I have taken and assisted this workshop multiple times. Since the first time, I was ignited with a passion that captured my heart for the Native American teachings. The connection to the earth and the all things resonates with my own beliefs.

All spiritual teachings contain a perspective on Truth.

In the story of the three blind men and the elephant, Truth is represented by the elephant.

One man feels the trunk and says “An elephant is a long tube that moves. It is a hose.” The second man feels the foot and says “An elephant has a trunk rooted to the earth. It must be a tree.” The third man feels the tail and says “An elephant stinks.”

Truth is an experience that changes with perspective. The Native American teachings speak to some ancient part of my soul and awaken a passion to share the wisdom.

It is in sharing and teaching that the wisdom of the Medicine Wheel becomes clearer and clearer. Each year, I am astounded by the depth of the teachings and the transformation that it facilitates.

Suzanne has a magic for creating community, holding deep and full presence, guiding a meditation process for grounding, and facilitating the group process. She has been leading healing circles in her Healing from the Core circles for more than 25 years.

I was honored to be invited to co-teach. I could feel her blessing, as we weaved together a magical reorganization of the curriculum.

With a year of planning, I created the content with the support of my public speaking groups (Toastmasters) who listened to me, my storytelling groups that helped me hone my craft, and Kindred Spirits that gave me feedback as I developed the changes.

This year, I brought my magic of sacred ceremony, clarity with slide presentations, and storytelling fun.

My goal was to show up fully. I left Naples with the blessing of my circles here, and I arrived to the support of Kindred Spirits who came to support me from around the world. I felt so deeply held that it was almost effortless. (I did say “almost.”)

In the end, I felt the power of a thing done well, a thing that moved through me, and a thing that taught me more of the “magic” and “medicine” that is my gift to the world.

If you’d like to learn more about what we did each day of the workshop, you can read the rest of Joel’s wonderful article here. Thank you, Joel!

Many of us have learned to ignore, deny, even mistrust the wise messages our bodies send us.

Listen now to what Suzanne has to say about how to reawaken to your inner wisdom through the body's main wisdom areas.

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